Wildlife
Fallow deer are a widespread species of deer in Britain. Originally from the Mediterranean and middle east, these deer were spread across Europe by the Romans and introduced to British parks and forests by the Normans in the 11th century. They spend most of the year in single sex herds, only coming together in autumn for the annual rut, where the males groan, parallel walk and lock antlers. Luckily, injuries are rare although the males sport impressive multi-point antlers. Fallow deer are smaller than red deer and have a spotted coat, but in some individuals the spots are not very prominent and may disappear in winter.
Scientific name: Dama dama
Rank: Species
In order to see this content you need to have an up-to-date version of Flash installed and Javascript turned on.
Parallel pacing
Fallow deer bucks strut shoulder to shoulder to size each other up.
Fallow deer bucks strut shoulder to shoulder to size each other up.
Bellowing deer
Presenter Michaela Strachan uncovers evidence of the fallow deer rut.
Presenter Michaela Strachan uncovers evidence of the fallow deer rut.
Stag morning
Bill gets up early one morning to see what lives in Richmond Park.
Bill gets up early one morning to see what lives in Richmond Park.
Dusky deer
An unusual visitor is attracted to a garden bird feeding station.
An unusual visitor is attracted to a garden bird feeding station.
A fallow deer's history of Britain
The establishment of Royal hunting forests in 1066 gave fallow deer a foothold.
The establishment of Royal hunting forests in 1066 gave fallow deer a foothold.
Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.
The Fallow deer can be found in a number of locations including: Asia, Europe, Mediterranean, Russia, United Kingdom, Wales. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Fallow deer distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Least Concern
Population trend: Unknown
Year assessed: 2008
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
The fallow deer (Dama dama) is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. This common species is native to western Eurasia, but has been introduced widely elsewhere. It often includes the rarer Persian fallow deer as a subspecies (D. d. mesopotamica), while others treat it as an entirely different species (D. mesopotamica).
This entry is from Wikipedia, the user-contributed encyclopedia. If you find the content in the 'About' section factually incorrect, defamatory or highly offensive you can edit this article at Wikipedia. For more information on our use of Wikipedia please read our FAQ.
Take a trip through the natural world with our themed collections of video clips from the natural history archive.
Garden wildlife
From badgers to butterflies and frogs to foxes, garden wildlife is both varied and surprising.
Wild autumn
Autumn - a time of great change, of breathtaking migrations, of high drama.
BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
Oak wood
Beech wood
Marsh
Parkland
Broadleaf forest
Coniferous forest
Temperate grassland
Urban
Shedding body parts
Acoustic communication
Herbivorous
Maternal care
Polygynous
Active at birth
Social
Adapted to running
Sexual dimorphism
Territorial
Visual communication
Viviparous